Jesuit offers multiple opportunities for students to explore
Instrumental Music through beginning band and string programs.
Incoming freshmen discover the world of music through hands on
work with a woodwind, brass or string instrument. Students
will learn music terminology, rhythmic figures and basic reading
skills to further enhance this experience.
Instrumental Music courses are performing groups; students are
required to perform in concert venue performances twice a year.

This band is made up of the majority of band students at Jesuit
High School. Students should have a solid command of their
instrument, be able to play several major and minor scales, and
have established proper playing technique.

Open only by audition, this ensemble represents the premier
musicians at Jesuit High School. Symphonic Band is a varsity
level performing group at Jesuit that is designated for band
students with a minimum of three years of ensemble experience.
This ensemble focuses on the preparation of music in a variety of
types and styles for public concerts and other events, and on the
development of ensemble techniques (tone, rhythmic accuracy,
technical facility, articulation, intonation, blend, balance, and
musical expression).

Since 2015 the Jesuit High School Marauder Marching Band has
taken the field during football games. Membership in the Marauder
Band is part of the course requirements of our Concert and
Symphonic Bands. This program is designed to give students the
opportunity to participate in a corps style marching band: a fun,
exciting, high profile, highly disciplined group with an
extensive rehearsal and performance schedule. The Marauder Band
performs at all home varsity football games and serves as a
pep band for home varsity basketball games, rallies, and other
events.

A native of Sacramento, John Cargile earned his BA in Music from
UC Davis in 2008 studying Music History with a focus in
Ethnomusicology. He then moved on to studying for his California
Teaching Credential at CSU Sacramento before accepting a position
as a graduate teaching assistant and enrolling in the Masters’
program in Music Education at the University of the Pacific’s
Conservatory of Music. At Pacific, John honed his conducting and
teaching skills under the tutelage of director Eric Hammer while
given leadership of the University Concert Band during the
2010-2011 year.

“A few months into my first and only year as a rugby player, I
suffered a concussion. With this newfound time at home, I sat
down at the computer and composed and recorded my first
complete song, ‘Rise Like the Phoenix.’”